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Microsoft confirms taskbar in Windows 11 no longer supports drag and drop

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Re: Microsoft confirms taskbar in Windows 11 no longer supports drag and drop

#81

Post by GekkePrutser »

tablespoon wrote: post #78
GekkePrutser wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you like choice I can really recommend KDE. It's got much more configurability than Windows or Mac. You'll be no longer stuck with what a mega corporation decides is best for you. I run it on top of FreeBSD myself. Gnome is nice too but suffers from the same lack of configurability. It's too opinionated like Mac. You can make it more flexible but you'll end up having a lot of plugins that end up being hard to main…

> Gnome is nice too but suffers from the same lack of configurability. It's too opinionated like Mac. You can make it more flexible but you'll end up having a lot of plugins that end up being hard to maintain across version updates. Every time I'm looking for a function in Gnome and Google it I find an old thread discussing how it used to have it but the Devs removed it because they didn't agree with it or deem it ne…

I think it's so common now because Apple has become so popular and trendsetting. Apple have always been very opinionated but they've steered the industry along with them. Everyone follows them in some way, like when vista basically copied Aqua and when they moved to flat design everyone followed.

Opinionated software works for simple apps but not for whole OSes IMO. I'm glad there's still systems around that offer more choices but they are becoming more fringey now.

The same if you want an OS without any kind of telemetry. Neither Microsoft nor Apple are saints there.

Re: Microsoft confirms taskbar in Windows 11 no longer supports drag and drop

#83

Post by cosmotic »

saurik wrote: post #64
cosmotic wrote: post #21

There are two issues here: 1. The task bar, application, and process metaphor in Windows is not conducive to drag-and-drop onto taskbar items. Dropping onto an exe would start a process and pass the file as an argument, but doing this onto a window doesn't make sense. Does it start a new process from the file the window's existing process is based on? This would rely on that program recognizing it's already running a…

> Does it start a new process from the file the window's existing process is based on? This would rely on that program recognizing it's already running and sending a message the other instance to open the dropped file then exit. You make it sound like this is somehow crazy complex behavior that no one would have implemented, but this is table stakes for a Windows application as otherwise double-clicking files that ar…

It is crazy complex.

Task bar items don't represent exe files, they represent windows spawned by process started from exe files. Excel has many different behaviors depending on how you open a file. In fact, you can get excel into a state where double clicking a file opens in a hidden instance of excel that you can never see.

If you drag a file to a notepad window taskbar item, should it open in that window? should it open a new window in that process? Should it start a new process with that file? Should users have control over how that happens or should application developers? Or both? Or Microsoft?

On macos, theres only ever one instance of an application open so these questions are easy answer. On windows, they arent.

Re: Microsoft confirms taskbar in Windows 11 no longer supports drag and drop

#84

Post by imbnwa »

nmstoker wrote: post #18

Reaffirming assumptions is a totally valid activity for a redesign of anything so long established, as Windows clearly is. However there are better ways to go about it than lop off widely used functionality and see how much people yell. If you do it too much, users willing to give feedback will have less energy and nuance left for the really smart stuff, as they dig their heels in to fight hard for the simple things.

Hopefully taskbar repositioning gets walked back like the Safari tab UI redesign in Monterrey

Re: Microsoft confirms taskbar in Windows 11 no longer supports drag and drop

#85

Post by feikname »

Goronmon wrote: post #61
aneutron wrote: post #41

This was genuinely one of the more intuitive parts of the task bar. Although I'm aware that you can pin applications to the task bar by right clicking. I surely hope they give alternative ways to pin stuff. But in the article, here's what's pissing me off: > In Windows 11, the taskbar lost some other quite popular features users enjoyed in Windows 10. For example, you can no longer move the taskbar to the top, right,…

This was genuinely one of the more intuitive parts of the task bar. Is it intuitive? I honestly didn't know this was something you could do, and it doesn't seem to work for me. The most I am able to do while dragging something to the taskbar is to pin it to the application that could open it. Other times I just get the same red 'X' as on Windows 11. Is there a use pattern that I'm just not thinking of?

try letting the file stay on the app icon for a few seconds, it should automatically switch to that window.

Re: Microsoft confirms taskbar in Windows 11 no longer supports drag and drop

#86

Post by feikname »

marcellus23 wrote: post #3

> you can open a file by dragging it onto an app on the taskbar I honestly thought this wasn't true because it never worked when I tried it. Is the third party support for this feature just really lacking compared to macOS where it seems universal?

IIRC you gotta hold the file over the program's taskbar icon for bit then it changes to that window as active and there you can drop. Try with e.g. Your browser on Google drive for uplaoding

Re: Microsoft confirms taskbar in Windows 11 no longer supports drag and drop

#87

Post by ddingus »

JohnFen wrote: post #45
silicon2401 wrote: post #2

> If this controversial change frustrates you, as well as thousands of other insiders, make sure to send your feedback to Microsoft. Or, just don't use windows 11. I certainly won't. I'm only using win10 as it is because they don't care if you use an unauthorized copy for free. At this point my camel's back is a needle away from switching to linux/mac.

I'm with you, in concept. I stopped using Windows on any of my personal machines back around the Win 98 days. Unfortunately, my employer makes me use it at work, so I can't really avoid it.

Win 98 was the last Windows I paid for.

If they bork it up, it costs other people money, because it costs me time.

I run it mostly standard, bog standard and got really good at the basics. Best overall path.

Maybe they want to force that on everyone?

Whittle it down to the nubs and there is less support overall.

I am happy to do the work, let someone else buy Windows.

Re: Microsoft confirms taskbar in Windows 11 no longer supports drag and drop

#88

Post by ddingus »

InitialLastName wrote: post #40
silicon2401 wrote: post #2

> If this controversial change frustrates you, as well as thousands of other insiders, make sure to send your feedback to Microsoft. Or, just don't use windows 11. I certainly won't. I'm only using win10 as it is because they don't care if you use an unauthorized copy for free. At this point my camel's back is a needle away from switching to linux/mac.

Just as soon as the CAD tools I've put a decade into learning and building tools for work on something other than Windows, I'll be right with you.

That is hard. I have two decades plus starting in 89. Windows is a lock.

Fir a time, I ran NX on both Mac OS and Linux. Linux is a tough setup. Mac OS was easier. Both are missing features related to fonts.

Other than that, it reminded me of running high end SDRC on IRIX. :D

Support is either gone or on the serious fade today. Too much integration and momentum.

Re: Microsoft confirms taskbar in Windows 11 no longer supports drag and drop

#89

Post by ddingus »

vxNsr wrote: post #56
cosmotic wrote: post #21

There are two issues here: 1. The task bar, application, and process metaphor in Windows is not conducive to drag-and-drop onto taskbar items. Dropping onto an exe would start a process and pass the file as an argument, but doing this onto a window doesn't make sense. Does it start a new process from the file the window's existing process is based on? This would rely on that program recognizing it's already running a…

Regarding 2, we’re rapidly approaching the expiration date on any relevant patents from the early 00s. I wonder what software will look like 10 years from now when all the great ideas can be commoditized…

Maybe a lot better?

Re: Microsoft confirms taskbar in Windows 11 no longer supports drag and drop

#90

Post by ddingus »

nashashmi wrote: post #6

They killed drag and drop and changed right click menus from the recent files list on pinned apps. I knew I was going to hate this modern ui right then. Sure it was a complex menu but it was so feature rich.

That all seems like more touch UI casualties.

Maybe they should just eliminate the mouse.

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